LONDONA British department store chain is vowing not to be
swayed by Muslim calls to boycott the company because it does business
with Israel.

"We are a global player and we support many countries, including
Israel," a Marks & Spencer spokeswoman told JTA.

"We have a history and a background with Israel that we are
very proud of," Cheryl Kuczynski said.

Two groups, the Islamic Human Rights Commission and Action Alert,
staged small protests outside two of the chain's stores recently.
The groups plan to continue picketing every Saturday, a commission
spokesman said.

Nafeez Ahmed described the protests as "an example to other
companies that are doing business with Israel."

The IHRC has over 2,000 members in the United Kingdom. Action Alert
is a loose, new group of activists who work mostly via the Internet.
The protests to date have been very small, Kuczynski said.

"We were anticipating protests at six stores last weekend
and only had two," including at the chain's flagship store
at London's Marble Arch, Kuczynski said. But Ahmed said the protests
had "only just started."